Earliest surviving Bank of England note

This handwritten banknote is one of the earliest surviving Bank of England notes. These ‘running cash’ notes were the forerunners of modern banknotes.

These early notes were receipts for money that was deposited at the Bank. They included a ‘Promise to pay’: the note could be exchanged at the Bank for gold. This would be paid either to the person named on the note, ‘or bearer’ – a third party.

Early notes were not for fixed denominations, but for any amount that an investor wanted to deposit at the Bank. This one is for £22.